Rams’ ‘Fatts’ steals spotlight
PITTSBURGH — Here’s the skinny on a Philly guard called Fatts: The player with the best nickname in the tournament given because he was a chunky baby turned in the stout performance Rhode Island required to win.
Fatts Russell hit three three-pointers and showed that — for this game, at least — he was the best freshman guard around as he pressured Oklahoma’s dynamic scorer Trae Young right out of the NCAA Tournament.
E.C. Matthews hit the go-ahead three-pointer in overtime and one more that sealed it to help Rhode Island hold off Young and Oklahoma 83-78 on Thursday in the Midwest Region.
The seventh-seeded Rams (26-7) won a game in the tournament for the second straight season and will play second-seeded Duke on Saturday.
Young is likely one-anddone at OU. Fatts Russell plays on. “I told him when I recruited him: The only point guard I saw better than him at the Peach Jam last year was Trae Young, and he told me I was wrong about that and he was going to prove me wrong today,” Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley said. “And he put on a show.”
Russell (whose first name is Daron) scored 15 points.
The Sooners needed more of a show out of Young.
Young had cooled a bit as the 10th-seeded Sooners (18-14) ended the season on a 2-8 stretch headed into the tournament. Still, the phenomenal freshman led the nation with averages of 27.4 points and 8.8 assists.
He needed a late-game surge to hit 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting. But he also committed six turnovers and missed a pair of ill-advised shots in OT.
“Sometimes you’ve got to live with those shots because he’s been making them all year,” Sooners guard Christian James said. “Sometimes you take those shots and they didn’t fall this time.”
Young shook off an early second-half funk and scored 11 straight points for the Sooners to close regulation and made two free throws to open OT.
Matthews, who scored 16 points, hit a three in OT for a 74-72 lead with 1:54 left and one more with 28 seconds to go for a five-point lead. Hurley ended the win with a big embrace with Russell.
Rhode Island stood on the court and pointed toward the scoreboard as their logo advanced on the video bracket.
“We didn’t want to change our style of play and not be aggressive against him just because of who he is,” Russell said of Young. “We just tried to contain him and it worked.”